UB claims end to spat, Chhabria denies move

The curtain seems to have fallen on the legal wrangle between the Chhabrias and Vijay Mallya, except that the markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), wants to see the terms of the settlement and approve of it.

Counsel on both sides of the liquor giants told the Supreme Court today that all the private parties have agreed on the settlement terms.

However, Sebi demanded that they should see and examine the settlement terms and asked for time to do so. The bench consisting of Justice Santosh Hegde and Justice S B Sinha allowed its prayer and adjourned the case till January 11.

Surprisingly, Kishore Chhabria told Business Standard in Mumbai: "There's no settlement. Talks are going on." He explained that talks had been going on between Mallya and him for four years. When the two spoke last month they reiterated their desire to settle their disputes.

Chhabria said Mallya had told him that the UB group would file an application with the Supreme Court "" which was filed on November 30 and the hearing came up before the bench today.

Chhabria added: "It's a one sided application. Had we arrived at a settlement, we'd have filed a joint application."

Some 12 cases were listed before the court today involving the various companies owned by the two groups. Cases have been pending in the Company Law Board and the high courts of Mumbai, Kolkata and other places.

In the CLB, Herbertsons had moved a petition against Kishore Chhabria alleging mismanagement of BDA Breweries and Distilleries Ltd. Another case was pending in the Bombay High Court relating to the same parties.

There was yet another in the Calcutta High Court moved by Shaw Wallace regarding the ownership of BDA. Investment companies like Shirish Finance & Investment Ltd were also involved in the multi-faceted litigation.

In its application, United Breweries said that the proposed settlement would resolve all outstanding issues between the UB group and the Chhabria group in respect of the management and control of Herbertsons Ltd.

It further said the UB group proposed to purchase a total of 46,72,791 shares including the disputed shares from Chhabria group for a consideration of Rs 131.16 crore in full and final settlement of all claims and counter claims.

The UB group further said that this would not require an obligation to make a public announcement of the offer because of SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997.

With the purchase of the shares from the Chhabria group, it is said that UB group along with its subsidiaries will hold 92.22 per cent of the voting capital of Herbertsons.